Burt’s Place. That should be all that needs to be said about the next venue for the Small Household Food Exchange. That should be enough to attract droves of LTHers (although we will limit the number of attendees).
Burt Katz was legendary in the local pizza world, from The Inferno (no longer around), to Gulliver’s, to Pequod’s (both still in business), and finally to his own Burt’s Place. Burt Katz developed a style of pan pizza that influenced many. Before Burt passed away, he trained Jerry Petrow and John Munao in his recipes and techniques. They’ve remodeled a bit, upgraded aspects of the operation, and reportedly the pizza does a good job replicating Burt’s genius.
But does it really? Join us at Burt’s Place 2.0 Sunday, November 19 at 4:30 pm (opening time) and we’ll form our own opinions.
We chose a Sunday to make it easy for anyone traveling a distance; it’s less likely to have issues with rush hour traffic, getting away from work early or returning home late. Burt’s Place is easy to get to — exit I-94 Edens at Dempster Street West, or I-294 at Dempster Street East; when you get to Ferris Ave. go about two blocks south. Street parking is usually pretty easy. It’s also just a short walk from the Morton Grove Metra Milwaukee North line.
What is the Small Household Food Exchange, you may ask.
Most importantly, it’s a gathering of like-minded folks at an interesting restaurant for a meal, taking advantage of the ordering power of a good number of people to share and sample a good number of menu items.
You don’t need to bring something to exchange — all are welcome — just enjoy the dinner and the camaraderie. But, the Small Household Food Exchange started so that those of us in 1-2 person households who love to cook aren't stuck eating that big pot of chili for a whole week. Instead, we make 4-10 servings of one dish, and bring home 4-10 different dishes. Exchanging participants bring one pre-portioned serving of their food for every exchanger who has RSVP’d to come that month. A serving is whatever you think it is for your food item. For soup, it may be two cups; for pastrami, 4 oz. (or more if you make more generous sandwiches). The priority will be for entrees, meats, soups, salad, stews, pastas, grains, etc. One dessert is OK each month, but we don't want 6-7 dessert offerings — everyone is mostly interested in main meals. (Check the Events Board, there’s a separate Dessert Exchange.)
The fine printNumber in the group: We will cap attendance at each gathering at 12, and food exchange participants at 10, so that participants are never making more than 10 servings of anything. Couples can be counted as one serving, or two — if you come as a couple, please specify whether you're bringing one or two dishes to exchange.
There will be no restrictions on the food – we’re an omnivorous bunch. IF ANYONE HAS ANY ALLERGIES, PLEASE LET THE GROUP KNOW.
The containers/delivery system: Everyone in the group should use the GLADWARE 3 1/8 CUP PLASTIC CONTAINERS (7” x 7” square container with a blue lid). You’ll portion your food into those containers to bring and hand out at the gathering. You can freeze them or not depending on your schedule and when you make your food. There is no need to fill the container, just put in whatever is a serving to you. If you use something else to deliver your food that month (Ziploc bags, plastic wrap, etc.) you should also return the empty containers from the last round so that everyone always has a stash of these containers for the exchange, and no one has to run out and buy more. Ideally, everyone will find a way to label their containers, describing the contents, so we don’t end up staring into our freezers at a field of blue-lidded containers and wondering what’s in each one (not that there’s anything wrong with the occasional surprise …).
The process: Each of us will take turns being the organizer each month. Each time we meet, someone will offer to organize the next month’s gathering. Several weeks before the next gathering the organizer will post a new thread to the events page announcing the date and the location for that month and asking for RSVP’s.
If you want to join us, either as a dining companion or two, or as an exchanger (either way, we hope you will), please RSVP your attendance by responding in this thread one week before the monthly gathering. If you're exchanging, please post what you're bringing at least three days before the gathering. This is to help make sure we get some balance in the food offerings, so that we’re not all bringing something that has to be eaten in the next 2-3 days; that there’s a balance of stuff that can be frozen for later, or eaten sooner.
The organizer will monitor the thread to see what people are bringing. The organizer will also make reservations for the group at the restaurant where we will be gathering. You can choose to stay for dinner or just come and exchange food and leave. Just let the organizer know so they can get an accurate count for the reservation. As previously mentioned, other LTHers are encouraged to join us for dinner, even if they are not bringing food to exchange.
Hope to see you there!
Dinner:
nr706
Cathy1
Cathy2
moetchandon
Pie Lady
GAF
Exchange: (Bring three dishes each)
nr706 — Spent Grain Noodles aglio e olio
Cathy2 — Detroit Pizza
moetchandon — Beef Osso Buco
Pie Lady — Jamaican curry goat and rice & beans
Burt’s Place
8541 Ferris Ave.
Morton Grove, IL 60053
(847) 965-7997
Sunday, November 19, 4:30 pm
Last edited by
nr706 on November 18th, 2017, 4:23 pm, edited 13 times in total.